Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Local women's rights activists have taken up the outcry raised by New York-based Human Rights Watch, following a Saudi Arabian court's acquittal of two people accused of torturing their Indonesian maid.

The activists also blamed the Indonesian government for not providing adequate protection for migrant workers. Nour Miyati, the worker at the center of the controversy, was allegedly tortured by her employers and suffered injuries which forced her to have her fingers and toes amputated.

Miyati, from Sumbawa in West Nusa Tenggara province, was treated in 2005 for gangrene, malnutrition and other injuries. The court ordered her employers to pay her US$670 in compensation.

Anis Hidayah, director of the group Migrant Care, said the acquittal and fine were an insult to both the victim and Indonesia.

"It is unfair that the employers who have rendered Miyati disabled were only ordered to pay $670. This sum of money is nothing compared to the abuse they subjected Miyati to," she said.

She said the acquittal showed Indonesia had poor bargaining power on the international stage. She said the circumstances would be much more different if a similar case occurred with migrant workers from the Philippines, which provides better protection for its migrant workers.

"I have to admit our political diplomacy is so weak we cannot even defend a citizen who has obviously been tortured by her employers," she said.

Miyati's employers denied the allegations of torturing her to the extent she had to have her fingers and toes amputated. They did, however, admit to having caused injuries to her face, but said her fingers and toes were amputated as a result of other medical problems, as stated in a medical report from the hospital where Miyati was treated.

At the start of the trial, Miyati had no legal representative and was not accompanied by any representative from the Indonesian Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

Judges later pressed charges of false allegations against Miyati and sentenced her to 79 lashes, but these charges were dropped. The case proceeded with the initial charges, and Miyati was represented by a lawyer appointed by the Indonesian government.

Kamala Chandrakirana, chairwoman for the National Commission on Women, said the government should demand an explanation for the acquittal from the Saudi Arabian government. "We have kept silent for too long," she said.

Kamala said Miyati's case was not the first such incident of abuse. She said many Indonesian migrant workers have met with severe abuse, and even when they file complaints against their employers, some are imprisoned in what she called a miscarriage of justice.

"The government must take special measures to protect migrant workers, because they are the most prone to mistreatment," she said.